Having trouble with the head assignment in the gesture class

Griffin McPherson

So currently I’m working on the exercise that has us draw 20 heads. The trouble I am having is that we are supposed to draw them in a gestural way but I don’t really have a style for that. My people are more semi-realistic and I have a hard time finding ways to bend and mold them like gestures.

Should I just keep drawing them the way that is natural to me or should I really try to push myself to draw more like the way we’re shown in the demo?

Here are some of my drawings for reference

Lovsey

@Griff Honestly, I have the same issue!
Our drawing styles are similar (I also couldn’t resist including hands to help tell the story in some of the the ‘head gestures’ haha)

The way I see it is, as long as we’re making progress and managing to simplify our drawings into a gesture of a person then we’re doing it right! I don’t draw cartoons (yet) so I’m not being too hard on myself but I have set myself the goal to use as few marks as possible to get the expression across and to draw quickly without worrying about them looking neat - that is progress for me! You can push yourself further, it’s your choice, but I’m sure, like me, you are still learning a lot even if you aren’t departing from your style too much.

I’ve decided that I will come back and redo this course again when I have developed a bit more flow in my sketching because I know for a fact that being too detailed is making my characters look stiff and I want to break that habit. I plan to do a lot of thumbnailing in the meantime so that small scale forces me to simplify and focus on the shapes and line of action even further. You could try to do the exercises on a smaller scale if you really want to try and push your boundaries?

jennaivy

@Griff said in Having trouble with the head assignment in the gesture class:

o draw more like the way we’re shown in the demo?
Here are some of my drawings for reference

I haven't taken that class so I don't know if this is that helpful, but here is some inspiration I found that is somewhat realistic and also gestural https://woutertulp.blogspot.com/2011/09/character-designs.html?m=0 I like the clear expressions this artist uses and the way he moves the hair around in some of the head sketches. Good luck with your assignment!

Griffin McPherson

@Lovsey I think returning to this class later is a great idea. Also helps us see how much we’ve grown!